Process of removing fiber from unretted flax-straw and preparing the residue for stock food.



- 1. BROLIN. PROCESS OF REMOVING FIBER FROM UNBETTED' FLA X STRAW AND PREPARING TI'IE RESJDUE FOR STOCK FOOD.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. I, I916- 1,239,667. PatentedSept. 11, 1917. 3 SHEETSS IIEET I.

I lm/ereforif Wfineaszs J pfolm 522 fiw/ 1. BROLIN. PROCESS or nemovmr- FIBER mom ummo FLAX-STRAW AND-BR EPARING THE nss nus ron smcx room APPLICATION .HL ED APR- l 915- 1 Patented Sept. 11,1917

. 3 SREETS-SNEET J. BROLIN. rnocsss or mmov NG FIBER mom ummm FLAX smw AND PREPARING THE nssmus ron STOCK FOOD. APPLICATION FILED APR- I916- 1,239,667, PatentedSept. 11, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

v J I Imrtl'or: l Jonas ,Bf'olin and Preparing the Residue for Stock F d,

" said separated food UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JONAS rmonm, or srovx FALLS, sourn DAKOTA.

rnoonss o1- movme FIBER FROM "UNRETTEDFLAX-STRAW RESIDUE FOR s'roox soon.

Specification of Letters .Patcnt.

AND PREPARING THE raten ea sept. 11", 1917.

Application filed April 1, 1916. Serial No. 88,245.

To all whom it concern: Be it known that I, JONAS BRouN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sioux Falls, in thecounty of Minnehaha and State of South Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Removing Fiber from Unretted Flax-Straw of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the process of separating the food portions of ';,unretted fiax' straw from the fibers and of pireparing portions for use as a stock food.

It is the object of my invention to subject flax straw in its nnretted or naturally cured condition as the same comes from an ordinary fiaxseed threshing machine to a continuous set of operations whereby the cortex and other non-fibrous portions of the flax straw are removed therefrom and separated from the fibers. The fibers secured by this process are gathered together and formed i lnto bales for further treatment at the fiber mills in the usual way. The shives or non- 'fibrous' portions of the straw, which have a high nutritive value as food for stock, are

not only effectively removed and entirely separated from the fibers, which are indigestibleand injurious in a stock food, but In connection with the process of fiber removal and as a direct continuation thereof such food material is additionally treated so as to render the same immediately available as a stock food.

Flax straw where the same has been properly cut and cured at theripening of the flaxseedf and where, after threshing the straw has notv been permitted to rot, possesses a very high food content for domestic animals such as cattle, ho etc. This food is not, however, availab e in the natural state of the straw because of the presence of the large amount of flax fiberand its tough and indigestible character. This fiber must be removed before the food becomes available, and the fiber itself. as is well-known, is valuable in the textile and twine making industries. Ordinarily, the

separation of the fiber from the other portions of the flax straw has been for the pur-/ pose of securing the-,fiber only, and the methods employed have not been conducive to the use of the shive for stock feeding purposes. This material as it usually comes from the decorticating mechanism is not only unfit for feeding purposes in its original condition, but if leftuntreated or stored rapidly deteriorates, becoming musty and diseased, so that any use of it for a stock food is soon impossible. This is because the flax straw in its natural state is infested with numerous fungi and parasites. The

, detailed description thereof and are particularly pointed out in the claims.

' In the drawings, illustrating the application of my invention in one form,

Figure l is a flow sheet showing the machines acting upon the stock and the courses of the stock throughout the process. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of a number of the machines and conveyers in their relative positions. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig.2 of the remainder of the system. Flg. 4 is a diagrammatic se'tional elevational view taken on line 45- 1 of Fig. 2. 'Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 taken on line 55 of Fig.3. A

The. location and operation of the machines and instruments of conveyance used in my process for forming stock food from fiaxstraw is best shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5. The flax straw as it is received at the mill maybe either baled or loose. Any baled straw is first fed into a suitable bale breaka toothed roll 11, a corrugated roll 12 and a short belt conveyer 13. As the baled straw passes through this machine it is loosened a d'torn apart so that when it leaves the machine it is in a condition similar 'to that of the ordinary or unbaled stock. "Beneath the outlet of the bale breaker 10 is positioned ayhorizontal belt conveyer 14which discharges the loosened straw to aho'pper 15 immediately in front of decorticating machinery to 'be presently described. At right angles to the this means both baled and loose straw isde 15 in the livered to the receiving hopper proper form to be acted upon by the decortieating machinery.

In close proximity to hopper 15 is situated a straw feeder 17 comprising a toothed drum 18, a pair of rolls 19 and 20 and a concave screen 21. This feeder picks up the straw from the hopper 15, passing it between rolls 19 and 20 and the drum 18, and feeds it downwardly into a series of break rolls 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 which act'upon it in the usual manner. The last pair 27 of these rolls discharges the straw into a beater 28 which, it will be noted, runs in the opposite direction to that custo'mary' with similar devices. Beater 28 consists of a drum 29 along which are secured a number of longitudinal bars 30. This drum travels very rapidly, acting upon the straw to separate a portion of the shives therefrom. The shives are discharged through a concave screen 31 and the remaining fiber through a mouth 32 formed in the beater casing 33 into a series of rolls 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38, similar to the previously-mentioned break rolls. From the last pair of rolls 38 the straw passes into a second beater 39 similar to beater 28 and from there into a kicker orshaker 46, best shown in Fig. 4. A shaking-shoe 40 havin a perforated bottom 41 forms a portion 0 this device. Within the shoe 40 is positioned a plurality of forks 47 adapted to be lowered and forwarded to feed the stock along the same in the usual manner. After the stock leaves said breaker the shives and other food PIOdllCJS have been entirely removed from the fiber and the fiber is discharged fromsaid shaker to a horizontal belt conveyor 42. An inclined elevator 43 carries the fiber from belt 42 to a baling machine 44, after which the fiber may be disposed in any suitable manner.

It will be noted from Fig. 2 that the stock travels in a straight line from the time it enters hopper '15 to the time it is discharged on belt 42. Directly beneath all of the machines operating upon the stock during this portion of the process is situated a lon horizontal belt 45, the upper surface 0% which travels in the same direction as the stock in the machines. Allof the screenings from thefeeder 17, heaters 28 and 39, and shaker 46, as well as all of the stock which drops through between the various rolls and other portions of the machines, is caught on the belt 45 and forwarded to an inclined elevator 48 which delivers it to an inclined revolving perforated Sifter drum "which may have 49. This drum serves to separate the shives and other food products from any fiber been precipitated upon the belt 45. Any such fiber passes through the open end of the drum 49 into a spout 50 and back on the belt 16, as previously mentioned,

"and is thence again passed through the decorticating process.

The shives and other screenings which are separated from the stock by drum 49 are discharged from it through a hopper 51 and, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, pass to a screenings separator 52 wherein they are properly dusted and cleaned. A belt conveyer 53 carries thcsl'iives and other food products in the pure form to an inclined elevator 54 which delivers the same into an attrition mill where the same is able maner to be used as stock food. Au elevator 56 raises the ground shives to a small bin 57. Bin 57 is provided with a feeding device 58 which conveys the ground shives at a uniform rate to an elevator 59. The shives are then discharged into a mixer 60, where molasses from a reservoir 61 is delivered into it and mixed therewith. An inclined elevator 62 brings the finished stockfood product from the mixer60 to a sacker 63, where the same is packed in the usual manner. Bin 57 serves merely as an overflow reservoir for the grounds from which the same can be uniformly fed, as it would be impossible to vary the rate of flow of molasses in accordance with the flow of grounds from the mill. In this manner the shives from the flax are directly formed into stock food from the flax straw in one continuous process. thus preventing infestation and loss of food value of the finished product.

The shive or cortex residue of the flax straw which comes from the siftendrum 49 has been subiected to very violent beating and breaking operations in the course of its progress from the initial feeder to the sifter drum. during which time the fungus growth. dust and other deleterious matter associated with the flax straw have been thoroughly disintegrated and loosened from the shive proper. All such matter is effectively and at once removed in the screening mill before the shive has had opportunity again to become infected with the fungi and parasites which constitute the greater part of the dust and extraneous matter separated in the screening mill. This bright clean shive is then immediate]; ground in the attrition mill 55 until it is reduced to a substance of the average consistency of meal. A good deal of finer materialrwill be produced in the grinding which would render the food difiicult to feed directly to stock. Furthermore. the milling process cannot have completely removed the fungi and parasites which have been associated with the straw. It is, therefore, an essential feature of my ground in a suitprpoes immediately treat the cleaned and powdered flax cortex with a substance which will serve to bind the powdered portions together and preserve the same by destroying and preventing growth of fungi and parasites. A most effective material for this purpose is crude molasses, which is itself an excellent stock food. The ground material is therefore immediately passed through the mixing device into which the" molasses is fed. Asa result of this mixing a roughly granular product is produced in which all powder is eliminated and wherein the particles of the ground shive or cortex "are" bound together in coarse granular form,.the

binder also ,serving as an efiective preservative' and a valuable stock food.

I claim: g 1.. The process of removing fiberfrom unretted flax straw and of preparing 'the'residuefor stock food which consists in subjecting the straw repeatedly and continuously to breaking and beating operations, collecting the material delivered from the breakers and heaters, sifting said material to remove fibers and unbroken portions therefrom, .and immediately; thereafter treatingv said sifted'material with a vpreservative to render it available for stock food. I

v "2. The process of removing fiber from unretted flax straw and of preparing the .resi'due for stock food which" consists in sub jecting the straw repeatedly and continuously to breaking and beating operations, collecting the material delivered from the breakers and heaters, sifting said material to. remove fibers and unbrokenportions subjecting the straw repeatedly and cone tinuously to breaking and beating operations, collecting the material delivered from the breakers and beaters, sifting said matev ria'l to remove fibers and unbroken portions therefrom, subjecting said sifted material to "l cleaning and grinding operations as the same is fed from the sifter, and treating the cleaned and ground material with a pre-' servative binder for rendering the same available for sto'ckfoo'd. v

4. The process of removing fiber from unretted flax straw and of preparing the residue for stock food which consists in subjecting the straw repeatedly and continu-' ously to breaking and beating operations,

collecting the material delivered from the breakers and beaters, sifting said material 'to remove fibers and unbroken. portions therefrom, subjecting said sifted material to cleaning'and grinding operations as the same is fed from the sifter, and treating the cleaned and ground material with ma lasses for rendering the same available for:

stock food In testimony whereof I afiix my signaturein presence of two. witnesses JONAS, BROL'IN.

Witnesses:

. F. A. Wmrnnnr, H. A. BowMAN. 

